WHEREAS the Regional District of Alberni-Clayoquot has invested millions in the development of the on-shore hake processing industry with a view to diversifying economies hard hit by downturns in the forest industry; AND WHEREAS the Canadian Government Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which declared a moratorium on the Joint Venture Hake fishing vessels in Canadian waters, is considering lifting the moratorium to facilitate an increase in the Total Allowable Catch, which will likely result in the closure of the plants in the Alberni-Clayoquot region and the loss of approximately 500 jobs and hundreds of thousands of dollars to the municipalities: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities support the retention of the moratorium on Joint Venture vessels in BC and communicate a strong message to the Government of Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that affected communities must be fully consulted prior to any further decision regarding this fishery.
Ministry of Agriculture, Food Fisheries British Columbia reaffirms its support for onshore jobs for BC communities and remains committed to the importance of shore-based hake processing. In fact, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries John van Dongen, committed to the Alberni-Clayoquot Fisheries Committee at a meeting on August 9, 2004 that for our part, the Province would ensure that we consult with them prior to any decision on joint venture factory ships. The Minister also recognized that to deny a joint venture fishery for this year would be a major loss of in excess of 12 million dollars for the harvesting sector. This year there was a very large Total Allowable Catch TAC for hake announced by the federal government. Because there wasnt the capacity in on-shore plants to process all the TAC, the federal government made some of this large catch available to offshore processing. However, the Minister provided a strong message to the federal Minister that British Columbia agreed to the allocation of hake to the joint venture only because of the unusual size of the hake Total Allowable Catch. He also made it clear that BC hopes to see a return to all-onshore allocation in 2005.
Fisheries Oceans Canada Resolution B24, regarding Proposed Lifting of Moratorium on Pacific Whiting Hake Threatens On-Shore Processing, does not acknowledge the fact that the use of foreign at-sea processors was reinstated, for one year, starting July 1, 2004. I recognize that my predecessor, the Honourable Robert G. Thibault, announced a three-year plan on May 30, 2002, that allocated the entire total allowable catch TAC to on-shore processors. Since that time, however, marketing factors for hake changed quite dramatically. I understand that two of the on-shore hake processing plants did not plan to operate in 2004 and the on-shore requirements for hake were unlikely to exceed 50,000 tonnes. Unfortunately, these closures occurred in a year when a substantial increase in Pacific hake biomass was occurring, giving Canada a TAC of 134,372 metric tonnes. The hake harvesting sector requested that DFO carry out a review of the current allocation policy for hake. Fisheries managers thus consulted with stakeholders throughout March and early April 2004. I approved a hake fishery management plan that included a joint-venture component resulting from these consultations, to deal with the TAC that was over and above the estimated 50,000-tonne requirement of onshore processors. This allocation also had the approval of British Columbias Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Since the three-year management plan approved by Minister Thibault ends in 2004, I will keep your resolution in mind when I review the proposed hake fishery management and allocation plan next year.